Sacrifice
by saku642734
Summary: Follow Hermione's point of view during the battle of Hogwarts. AU. (Written for Round 13 of the Quidditch League FanFiction Competition)


**This story is based on Harry Potter written by J.K Rowling**

 **A/N: This is being written for the quidditch league fanfiction competition. AU: battle of Hogwarts**

 **Round 13- Checkmate!**

 **Seeker- Chessboard: Write about an event taking place on a battlefield. (Be as creative as possible: this could be the Battle of Hogwarts or Lavender Brown fighting for the last set of robes on sale at Madame Malkin's.)**

I knew from the beginning that going into this war would be the hardest thing I've ever needed to do.

That included all of the years of helping Harry. The Sorcerer's Stone, a Basilisk, murder conspiracies, tournaments, prophecies, hunting Horcruxes and all the other nonsense we've had to deal with, all lead up to this.

And if I was able to stand by Harry for everything else, then I could be there for this too.

The final battle happened suddenly. One minute we were still on the run and thinking of a way to get into Hogwarts, and the next we were greeted by our friends at the end of a tunnel into the Room of Requirement.

Most of the beginning was a blur.

The Room of Requirement was a blur of students greeting us and shouting in excitement as they ran around. The only moment of clarity was when Harry finally reunited with Ginny.

But then it was a blur of portraits, robes and flying hair as we all raced down to the great hall where other students were lining up.

There was a slight pause before Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall started dueling. The battle was a blur of lights and flapping robes as they moved and cast spells. Right after Snape fled the castle, Voldemort's voice echoed in my head. I tried my best to block it out and that too became a blur of words I chose not to acknowledge. It would be too horrible otherwise.

The Slytherins were sent to the dungeons and plans were shouted around in the crowd. This lead to Ron and I running through the halls and passages we knew so well to get to the Chamber of secrets.

It blurred in my mind even more, running to the girl's bathroom, opening the chamber, grabbing as many fangs as we could, stabbing the cup, then oh Merlin Voldemort's face and oh Ron's finally kissing me.

There wasn't enough time to dwell on it. We ran back to the Room of Requirement and my mind was finally calming down so that I could actually see the portraits on the walls now.

We rounded a corner and found Harry, but not that far in front of us Fred and Percy were dueling. And for the first time that night I cursed my mind because as the wall exploded everything was vividly detailed in slowmotion. Even as we were knocked back I could see the rubble above Fred. Every single spell I knew flashed through my mind but I already knew that there was no way I could be fast enough. If I had reacted faster maybe I could have cast _Flipendo_ or something, anything to knock him out of the way. But I couldn't.

And I wished that everything was still a blur.

We couldn't spend more than a few minutes to move him and continue on to the Room of Requirement where the second to last Horcrux was hidden.

Ron and I followed Harry through the piles of lost items while he followed the hissing voice to the Diadem. Of course it isn't so simple, and of all the people we had to run into, it had to be Malfoy, Crabbe and Zabini. Even then I didn't expect Crabbe to be crazy or stupid enough to cast Fiendfyre. Harry grabbed the Diadem and we made a mad dash in the opposite direction.

Harry found some brooms and we were hightailing it out of there when he spotted Malfoy and Zabini clinging to a stack of items, but Crabbe was nowhere in sight.

We turned around and circled around them. I prayed that we would be able to grab them in time. They aren't my favorite people in the world but that doesn't mean they should die. Fred is gone and so is Crabbe. we have to do this at least.

Harry was able to grab Malfoy and Ron grabbed Zabini. A small weight was lifted off me. It doesn't make up for those who died, it never would, but we were able to save someone. It wasn't much, but it was _something_.

Harry kicked the Diadem into the Fiendfyre right before the doors closed. Another down, one more to go.

Harry announced that the snake was the last one and we were off running as fast as we could to the Shrieking Shack.

Crossing the yard we were in the thick of the battle, dodging spells left and right, avoiding all of the Giants and Acromantula as best we could. But everywhere I looked i saw other students and friends on the ground or soon to be. More people I couldn't save or stop to help. Lavender, Colin, and so many other bodies that I couldn't see the faces of.

But we had to leave so when our path was cleared of Dementors thanks to Aberforth we kept running, and I tried not to look back.

And because we have the worst luck, we show up to find Voldemort and Snape talking about the elder wand. He tells the snake to do something and it violently attacks Snape. We rush in once Voldemort was gone but for all the numerous items in my bag I didn't have a single Bezoar, or any antivenom potions, and we had run out of Dittany days ago. All we could do was sit and listen to him as he told Harry something. All we could do was watch someone else die.

Harry collects tears, that look like memories, into a vial. We wasted no time running back towards the castle, voldemort having called a small break for now. I didn't dwell on what he asked for by the end of the hour, I could think about that later.

Harry, Ron and I entered the great hall to see people sitting down and bodies lying on makeshift beds. The Weasleys were crowded around Fred and a few spaces down Harry and I spotted Remus and Nymphadora. It was unreal to see more of my friends, people I cared about, just lying there lifeless.

Harry broke away from the group saying something about finding a pensieve. I sat with Ron, simply giving and receiving comfort.

It felt like a lifetime waiting for Harry to come back down the stairs when in reality it was around a half hour.

When I got a good look at his face I knew that he had decided on something, and that there was nothing either of us could do to convince him otherwise.

When he told us about being a Horcrux, and pointing out how I probably already knew, I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry and hug him forever so that he couldn't leave, because Damn it, I knew. I had known that it was a possibility since I started reading about them, but I never wanted to believe. So I did cry and hug him but I knew I couldn't keep him there so I said I would go with him. I said this because he shouldn't have to go alone, but I also knew that he would go no matter what.

He said no of course so I was forced to wait with Ron while he walked to his death. Oh Merlin, please let him have a plan.

When we were called outside by Voldemort's I didn't want to believe it. When I saw Hagrid carrying Harry's body I wanted to believe that it was all a lie and that Harry did have a plan. My hopes were dashed the longer I stared at his lifeless body, until… it wasn't lifeless any more.

I saw him jump out of Hagrid's arms and run away. My relief was immediate and I felt renewed energy, enough to help Ron chase down that damned snake. It took a few adrenaline filled moments but Neville was finally able to cut the snake's head off. Leaving Voldemort as the only thing left.

We ran outside to see Harry and Voldemort locked in their duel, jets of red and green colliding in the center.

Not a moment later the battle was over, Voldemort taken down by his own spell.

Harry stood triumphant and tired, finally done after all these years of fighting him. I grinned at him but movement out of the corner of my eye grabbed my attention.

A random Death Eater I could not recognize was getting to his feet behind harry. Others were slow to notice but before he even moved his wand arm I knew that he wouldn't leave Harry alone. So this time I moved without hesitation, because this time there was enough time to act and protect him. Not enough to cast a spell of my own but that didn't matter, Harry was in danger. Out of everyone, he deserves the chance to live a normal life, there was no way I was going to let his sacrifice be in vain.

My own life flashed before my eyes. My past, present and possible future including the good and bad. But none of that stopped me, I will miss it, but Harry is my best friend, my brother in every way. There is no way I could let him die too, just like everyone else.

My sprint must have confused him because Harry never turned around, he just stared at me as the Death Eater raised his wand. I finally reached him a few seconds before the Death Eater snarled the killing curse at us, giving me enough time to grab Harry into a hug, spin around and release my hold so that he had to stumble away.

He finally realized what had happened, but by then it was far too late.

My last thoughts were of Harry, Ron and the Weasleys. Hoping that this would be enough and that they were finally safe after 7 years of continuous danger. I reveled in the fact that I was able to save my best friend even as I heard him scream my name.

I didn't even give a thought to the fact that this would be the second time in his life that Harry was saved by a loving and unconditional sacrifice.


End file.
